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Question:I think a contemporary person needs to have a clear understanding of what is happening in the world. He is absorbing a stream of information about natural disasters, tragic events, and social problems, yet has no clear picture of what is going on.

Answer:Of course, we have to see the entire system in general. But a contemporary person doesn’t yet feel the universal fear for the future. For this, he has to be on a completely different level, have a wider world-view, and be able to see distant horizons. In my opinion, this fear will appear in simple people when nature will begin to awaken us through serious disasters that will shake a person: Something unprecedented is approaching you and you are unable to avoid it.

It’s possible to somehow soften, conceal, run away or hide from what happens in a society. A person still doesn’t feel like a cornered rabbit that sees an approaching boa. In this state, we won’t be able to do anything because nature itself will shake us in order to bring awareness that all this is fatal, ruthless destiny. It’s desirable that the person realizes this picture not at the time of the action itself, when the disaster is already unavoidable, but beforehand, in order to describe it and to understand how to avoid it.

We have to show all this in the Integral Education textbook, talking about the nature of egoism itself and how in our world we cannot fix it by any means for we don’t possess the tools for this. We are driven by the desire to fill, to satiate ourselves, even at the expense of others. Or we simply want to humiliate others since when we rise above them, we feel more comfortable. This is an immense egoistic force that works in all directions.

The ego is the only force of nature. All the physical, chemical, biological, and genetic laws are only derived from the ego. Our entire world is one big ego. This is the desire to receive, to be filled, the desire to absorb, to be strengthened, to reach maximal satisfaction, and so forth. In addition, I constantly feel and measure my state relative to the environment. If I have one stick in my hand and my neighbor has two, I already feel hurt.

It follows from this that there is no power in the world that can somehow curb the ego. So where is the second force that will be ready to balance it? That is specifically what we must now find.

One can find this force only in a society organized in the right way. When such society is looking at the approaching tsunami, it begins to unify so that within the right connection between them they will discover the general altruistic attribute, whereby everyone is included in the others and becomes one collective whole. And this force will oppose and stand up to both the individual and collective ego. When we hold in our hands the two forces and can use them correctly, we will attain the balanced system, the right relationship in regard to ourselves, society, nature, and the world.[122968]From a TV program “An Integral World” 10/24/2013